Grove Christian School
9th Grade Summer Reading Assignment
Required Reading:
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
ISBN – 10:0060741872
Journal Activities: (Assignments will be collected and recorded as a Quiz grade.)
Complete the Journal Activities for the novel. Type your responses using Times Roman
Numeral and 12pt. font. You are expected to use complete sentences and paragraphs. Answers
need to be complete and well thought out. See the instructions for journal activities (Hint:
Chapters 1-7 are setting up the action…you may want to use chapters 8 and following for journal
activities).
By the end of the summer, you should have at least 10 journal entries completed for your
novel. Again, the idea behind these journals is to become an engaged and interactive reader. This
should be something that you do as you read. I expect the journal entries to be one-half page
double-spaced on Microsoft Word using 12-point Times New Roman font with 1" margins
on all sides.
Journal Instructions:
• Post-Chapter Reflection: This is not a summary of the chapter. A post chapter reflection
includes how you felt about the chapter, any aspects of the chapter that you felt were similar to
your life (think of emotions and underlying circumstances-not details), parts of the chapter you
did not appreciate, anything you didn't understand, questions you want to find the answers to,
answers to previous questions you may have had in other reflections.
• Reflection on Faith: This is an activity where you reflect on any parts of the book that may
have caused you to think about your personal faith. It may be something that is contrary to what
you believe with an explanation of why. It could be something that you feel you have a grasp on
that one or more characters may be struggling with. It may be something that causes you to
reevaluate what you believe, etc. These reflections are difficult and require an in-depth thought,
however they show a deep understanding on the part of the reader.
• Aha! Moment: In this activity you record a moment in which a character may have discovered
something about himself/herself and how that changed the way he/she interacts with other
characters. It could be a moment when you realize something about the book or about yourself
that is revealed through your reading of the book.
• Quotable Quotes: This is where you can record any quotes that you felt were interesting, or
particularly important to the story. Be sure to include an explanation of why it is important or
you felt it was interesting and what it means. It is also important to record the location of the
quote (chapter and page number will be sufficient).
• Next Chapter Predictions: This is an activity in which you make three predictions that will
happen in the next chapter. Underline the prediction and follow it up with an explanation as to
why you believe that will happen. After reading the next chapter, go back and revisit the three
predictions. Record whether or not your prediction was accurate. Use the following categories:
correct, incorrect, yet to be determined. This will allow you to engage with the book.
• Character Mirror: This is an activity where you 'become' a character. You write what would
see if you saw yourself (as the character) in the mirror. What struggles do you have? What are
your strengths? What are your desires? etc. Obviously this is an activity that can only be done
with major characters. It is helpful to do this towards the end of the book. The most important
thing is to interact with the book. If you are becoming frustrated with doing these activities, then
you need to stop and revisit the activity at a later time. I would like for you to try every activity
at least once for each novel. They are activities we will be doing in class throughout the year.